


Ink Blot

by bittertrees



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Other, more tags to be added over time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 17:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19891267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittertrees/pseuds/bittertrees
Summary: Loop after loop. It was all getting old. Henry knew every twist and turn. Every word of the script. Nothing surprised him anymore. Not until the current loop. Not when the demon itself had changed.It's hard for Henry to believe he has to fight for survival when the thing that was once trying to kill him is now just a toddler sized ink blot he has to carry around.





	Ink Blot

**Author's Note:**

> I always loved the first design of Ink Bendy. He was just a big old blob. But this is just a fun little fic to write in between my other one. Plus I just really like Henry and Ink Bendy shenanigans.

Add another mark to the wall in ink that only he could see. Glancing at it through the seeing eye tool - the object that would disappear from his person once he reached Alice and Tom again. It always did. He’d stopped questioning just  **WHY** it did that after the seventh time. He stopped questioning just why he was stuck going through the Hell of the studio on repeat on his tenth time venturing in.

It was always the same. Very few differences, even when Henry would try to deviate from the path, he’d always be pulled back into the usual routine. He presumed that was because of Joey. Because who else could be causing it? Who else would have that sort of power? His old friend having betrayed his trust. Sending Henry into an infinite loop through some  _ silly _ , horrific story that Joey had made up.

Talk to his old friend in the kitchen, step through a door. Be in the studio and question what he was supposed to be looking for  _ (though he already knew) _ . Turn on the machine. Face a psychotic Sammy. A deranged Susie. Watch Norman die. Lose a canine friend. Befriend two lost souls and then  _ defeat _ the ink demon. Again and again and again. It was growing stale, but Henry could do nothing about that. Not unless Joey wanted him to, and that old man seldom ever did. Always giving the old animator that knowing smile whenever they’d restart the loop.

It was all fun and games to his old boss. A sense of control. He’d managed to trap all of his other employees in the studio after all. But Joey wasn’t content with that, he  **HAD** to have the complete set. He had to have Henry there. Only the animator didn’t have the  _ privilege _ of being an ink creature that remembered nothing of their old life. Unfortunately, he was still human and knew everything. Experienced death numerous times. Experienced many joyless victories. 

The marks on the wall only made him feel more depressed every time he would restart, and yet he kept adding to them. Because eventually the cycle would have to break right?  _ Right? _ And he’d be able to know just how many times he’d gone through the studio and lived the same story.

With that done, with Joey  **LETTING** him add to the collection on the wall, Henry ventured on. Seeing his old desk for the upteenth time. Commenting about how a wall had been removed to make the animation department bigger. And then the scenes around him would become more horrific. Well, they  **HAD** been horrific when he’d seen them the first few times. Now? He felt nothing. Just numb, even when he saw a copy of Boris strung up on a table. It saddened him but he wasn’t as shocked as he’d been the first time, though his recited words made it seem like otherwise.

“What have you been doing, Joey?”

The words would come out without him prompting them to. He knew for awhile now what Joey had been doing, sort of. He had a vague clue. Either way, the constant question that would activate itself upon seeing the dead Boris’ body was growing overused. Henry no longer would stand there as he did before though, Joey would let him leave at his leisure. And so often the animator would turn after saying his scripted line and make his way to the room with the puzzle. Gather all the items, which took less than three minutes now, and bring them back to the room so that the ink machine could be activated. The cardboard cutouts of the devil darling no longer startled him as he traversed the halls. His old boss didn’t seem to want to make him feign fear either. No doubt he liked seeing  **GENUINE** horror and terror upon Henry’s face, but it was hard to bring about from the animator now. Not when he knew of every scare that hid behind each corner.

_ ‘I would love to know how Joey would react if I just threw myself off the railing in the ink machine room. Probably just have me restart. Besides...the damn thing is probably boarded up by now.’ _

He grumbled as he pulled the usual lever and heard the distant sounds of the ink machine starting up. And in that room,  _ Bendy _ would start to form. That deformed, skeletal like body with a tilted smile attached to it. It would jump out behind the boards and  _ frighten _ Henry, prompting the old man to run and make way for an exit that he would never reach. Fall down a hole, be surprised he didn’t break a hip, continue on, etc, etc.

_ Same old. Same old. _

Thus, Henry didn’t bother quickening his pace as he made his way back to the ink machine. The first time he’d been there, and the second time, he’d rushed toward it. Wanting to see what would happen, wanting to see if anything would change. But no, always the same. The only difference ever being the way the boards were positioned, and even that would start to repeat it’s patterns over time.

Stepping over the pipe and turning the corner, Henry experienced something he hadn’t in a long time -  _ surprise _ . Coming to a halt as he looked to the room that held the ink machine. He could see the device still suspended in midair, now running and spouting ink. But that was the problem - he could  **SEE** it. There were no boards to barricade the door and prevent him from entering. That caused Henry to glance back down the hall he’d come down and wonder if he’d missed an object to start the machine. But he knew he hadn’t! Joey wouldn’t allow him to miss anything and go off the script.

But what he saw now  **WAS** off the script. So much so that it made Henry question himself. So long he’d been going through the same routine over and over. Nothing new. Thus when faced with something that deviated from the usual, he was at a loss. But he couldn’t just continue to stand there. Whether it be a trick brought upon by his old boss or not, he had to investigate. Because there was always the chance that Joey had messed up. That now would be the time there was an  _ error _ in all his magic and crazy nonsense. That now would be the time Henry could get out.

The old animator took a step forward, and then another. Eyes remaining fixed on the ink machine, the thing that caused the fall of the studio. Well, played a part in it’s fall. Henry knew that Joey was the one to put most blame on. That man had been too ambitious. That man had too many ideas. And not enough people had been there to tell Joey  **NO** . Only Henry had ever had the stones to do that - but he left long ago.

Another step taken through a long dried inky puddle. One more before he was standing right at the doorway to the ink machine room. No boards held him back. No monster popped up. It was just him and the machine. It was...louder than he expected it to be. He never noticed until now. Always having been too distracted by the need to run or shutting himself off from all that was going on around him. Basically going into  _ auto pilot _ mode, or as he dubbed it  _ Joey Drew  _ mode. Because that was what it was. Whatever Joey wanted Henry to do - he had no choice but to go along with it.

But for once he felt...free of his  _ strings _ . He waited and waited to be grabbed hold of again and controlled. Waited to have some urge to continue on the path that was always set before him. But there was nothing. Henry freely moved his arms. His legs. Stepping further into the ink machine room and going so far as to find an empty bacon soup can and throw it over the railing. He listened as it went down the hole with the ink. Eventually hearing a very faint  _ sploosh _ .

“Er, Joey?”

The words were so quiet and they even startled Henry. Surprised that he had said them out loud and not in his head. That he was able to utter something that wasn’t in the usual script. But he didn’t let himself get his hopes up just yet. Because any moment Joey would rip it away from him. Any moment now his old  _ friend _ would realize the flaws in his story and put them back on track. The thought made Henry’s heart race, but he had to keep going. While he had the chance to be off the strings and could forge through in his own way.

“Okay, okay. Try the exit. Just try the exit.” He couldn’t stop himself from smiling and speaking out loud. Not when he finally had the chance to. Henry wouldn’t waste the long awaited opportunity by remaining silent. 

He soon turned on his heels and upon doing so, his smile faded. Ah, well, it was nice while it lasted. And perhaps he was stupid for letting just the slightest bit of hope find it’s way into his heart. Because now it had cost him his chance.

Standing in the doorway was the ink demon himself. Smile and all.

But, well, there was something... _ off _ about it. Incredibly off. For instance, it was short. As in the thing barely came up to Henry’s knees, if even. It also lacked arms and legs. It looked nothing like the inky skeletal creature that had chased Henry around that studio numerous times before.

It just looked like a  **BLOB** . It’s body just a simple lumpy mass with a head poking out the top. That unnerving smile was still there. As were the malformed horns. But that was it. Nothing about it screamed threatening or malicious. Joey’s  _ magic _ must have really gone off course if it had turned the ink demon into nothing more than an  **INK STAIN.** It was laughable really. So much so that the animator found himself letting out a soft chuckle. All of that time repeating the same course of events over and over again. It should have broken him. And it almost had. But now the little glitch in the frames had brought some form of amusement to him.

He could speak without feeling as if he were reading from a script. He could move without feeling as if strings were being pulled to guide him. And for the love of God, he could  **LAUGH** in the ink demon’s face. The thing just continued to stare at him, perhaps confused as to just why he wasn’t running and was instead laughing. 

Eventually the demon itself got tired of the inaction and made an attempt to move. Gliding across the floor and making its way toward Henry. The animator’s mouth immediately snapped shut as he caught sight of the movement. Though it was amusing what the demon had become, the thing could still pose a threat. Thus he readied himself to side step and run if need be. 

But, he didn’t need to. Just as Henry was about to spring into action, the ink demon faltered. God only knew how the thing had managed to trip in the puddles that were its own ink. Lurching forward and landing on its face with a rather loud  **SPLAT!** A few moments of silence and tension hit the room before the ink demon tried to roll itself onto its back. A failed attempt as it instead just resembled a fish flopping on the ground and searching for air.

Oh, that...was rather pitiful. Henry found himself straightening up and frowning as he watched the entire thing unfold. The thing before him was the same creature that had terrorized him for  _ days? Months? Years? _ However long he’d been running loops through the studio. It had always been the antagonist of the story. The thing meant to be defeated and feared. But Henry couldn’t find himself getting shaken up or put on edge. He just felt...sympathy. Pity.

Strange things to feel for  _ the enemy _ . He knew that. It was better for him to just step over the creature and make his way to the exit. It was what he  **SHOULD** have done.

_ But damn him to Hell. He didn’t. _

With a rather loud sigh, the animator stepped forward. Only coming to a halt when he found himself right in front of the sputtering form of the ink demon. The creature stilled as it no doubt sensed Henry was standing in front of it. Unable to lash out like it had previously been able to do in the other loops. It was like a turtle rolled over onto its shell. Unable to move or do much of anything to defend itself.

“I’m telling you now,” He knelt down before the creature, ignoring the bit of ink that soaked through the knee of his pant leg “Don’t make me regret this.”

With that, he reached out. Hesitant hands took hold of the inky sides of the demon. When the thing didn’t lash out or even wriggle, Henry pressed on. Lifting the creature up and setting it upright. Greeted yet again by that unnerving grin. Slowly the animator pulled himself away, not wanting to make any quick or rash movements. Startling the demon, even in its more pitiful form, probably wasn’t the brightest idea.

“Well, there you go. Be more careful when you’re walking, erm, gliding, I guess.”

Of course he was met with no response. The demon simply cocking its head to the side as it took in the animator’s words. Did it even have the capacity to understand him? Henry didn’t think so. It probably just heard nothing but gibberish. Or the continuous flow of the ink that made up its body.

So, I’m just going to…” He made an attempt to stand. His old bones straining from the effort, something he hadn’t felt in a  **LONG** time. The wonders of Joey’s magic and needing to survive numerous falls and long stretches of running halls. It had kept him as fit as an ox for all those loops. But now if that all was broken...he truly was just an old timer doing things that should be left for younger bucks.

Henry barely had his knee off the ground before the ink demon surged forward again. Out of instinct, the animator’s hands flew forward to push it away, but the demon was quick. Ducking under the elder’s arms and  **SMASHING** into Henry’s chest. The impact caused him to let out an audible  _ oof! _ Nearly falling backwards onto his rump, but luckily having been off the ground had given him the advantage of maintaining his balance. Taking a moment to recompose before he looked down at the thing that had nearly sent him tumbling.

It wasn’t attacking him. No sudden burst of claws had come from its inky body to strike him. No seemingly painted on teeth transformed into fangs and sank into his chest. The thing just...pressed itself against him. Head resting against Henry’s shoulder, ink slowly seeping through the fabric and causing him to shiver. Was it...trying to  **HUG** him? That couldn’t be the case right?

The demon wanted him dead. It was hardwired to want to kill him. But then again...the loops were supposedly broken, right? The demon didn’t looking like the creature from Hell that it truly was. Who was to say that the thing hadn’t been as much of a victim as Henry had been? Working against strings and acting out the role of the aggressor. But now if it was free, now had a mind of its own.  _ Supposedly.  _

Well Henry didn’t know why it would want to be an ink blot if that were the case. But what he  **DID** know was that it didn’t wish to attack him. Not yet at least. Perhaps the act of helping it up had shown it that Henry wasn’t the threat it had been made to believe? 

“Okay, okay. You’ve had your fill,” He tried to gently push the creature away, but the ink demon just came right back. Pressing up against Henry like a kitten that was demanding attention. It definitely left the animator in an awkward spot. That was for sure “You’re not letting me go anytime soon are you?”

The demon actually shook its head at the question. Henry didn’t think the creature would understand, but it  **DID** . Catching the animator completely off guard. But once the initial shock wore off, he couldn’t help but chuckle. The ink creature looking up at the sound, once again cocking its head to the side as if to question just why Henry found its answer to be so amusing.

“Sorry, sorry. I just didn’t think you knew what I was even saying. Erm, you do understand, right?” At that the creature nodded. Utterly affirming the fact that it certainly knew what Henry was going on about “Interesting.”

Henry tried to stand again but it was rather hard what with the demon still leaning against him. Still unwilling to move despite the animator’s movements and the clear signs that he wanted to get up. It all caused Henry to sigh, looking over the new form of the demon in full. Not much bigger than a slightly larger than average toddler. He could…

But did he really  **WANT** to? He could throw out his back. The demon could turn on him. There were so many variables and Henry had no answers nor script to follow anymore. It was all new territory for him. But he supposed he would just have to play along and forge his own path. One not determined by Joey Drew. One that now involved just him...and an ink blot.

“Okay, since you aren’t going to let me go anytime soon, you’re coming with. I guess. Though not sure what I’ll do with you once we leave,” the demon wriggled its whole body at that, perhaps displeased with what it was hearing “Erm, I didn’t mean that in a bad way. Just in a well...never mind. I’m just saying it’s time to go.”

At that, the creature nodded. Its entire body still wriggling, looking up at Henry expectantly. As if it knew what the animator already planned to do. God, it really was like an oversized toddler.

With a sigh, Henry braced himself. Hands yet again grasping onto the sides of the demon and hoisting it up. It was rather awkward to hold. Its entire body was composed of ink that moved at every slight touch and change in movement. It made Henry worried that he would drop the thing and anger it, if he wasn’t careful. Slowly adjusting his hold and resting the bottom of the demon’s body on his left hip. Supporting the rest of the thing’s weight with his left arm. Already his back was protesting the weight. He could rarely carry his own grandchildren like that for very long. The ink demon weighed less than them but the thing still wasn’t easy to lug around.

“Don’t expect this for long. I  **AM** old, you know,”  The demon made a movement as if it were laughing, though no sound accompanied it  “Wise guy, eh? You would be. Okay, let's get going. I think we’ve both spent too much time here.”

The demon gave a nod of agreement. Resting its head once again on Henry’s shoulder as the animator started to walk. The exit. He just needed to get there. Would he end up back in front of the studio? Would he end up back in Joey’s kitchen? He didn’t know, and the thought of it gave him anxiety. 

If he came out into that kitchen again. If he came face to face with that  **BASTARD** , he didn’t know what he would do. The man he had once saw as a friend was no longer such a thing. Joey had become a monster. That was clear to see by the Hell he had put all his employees through - even the ones that had left him long ago. Thoughts of throwing Joey into the studio and having him go through the loops crossed Henry’s mind. So much so that it alleviated a sliver of his anxiety. But not much.

Who was to say that when he opened that door and possibly ended up in that kitchen - that Joey just wouldn’t use his demonic nonsense and send Henry right back. To the script. To the strings.

No, he couldn’t think like that. He had to keep going forward. It was what had kept him sane during all the relived experiences in the studio. He had to have some amount of hope of getting out of there. He had to have plans for what he would do once he did.

_ No more letting Joey control his life. _

Stepping over the pipe. Ignoring the standees. Walking down the abandoned halls. He passed it all in stride. Head held high as he turned the corner and stared down the exit door. It was slightly ajar, as it always was. A small light peeking through, a sign that it was waiting for Henry. Though what awaited him on the other side he hadn’t a clue.

“I’m about sick of this place. What about you?”  He glanced to the demon held in his arm. The thing didn’t have a response now. No wriggling movements or shake of its head. It wasn’t even looking at Henry either. It instead inclined its head toward the door. Almost as if it hadn’t ever seen light peeking through one before.  **REAL** light. And perhaps it never had. Where could it ever experience such a thing in the closed up studio? 

“I’ll take that as a yes.”  Henry muttered before he stepped forward. He wanted to run, but his old bones and the  _ guest _ in his arms prevented such a thing. So instead he was forced to walk. Slowly making his way for the door. So close. So very close. His hand able to reach out and come mere inches from the door knob.

The ink demon shuddered against him...and suddenly there was a loud  **_CRACK_ ** beneath his feet.

“No!  _ No! _ ”

He was barely able to get those words out before the floor gave out beneath him. Henry tried to surge forward and jump through the door but to no avail. The added weight of the demon sent him surging backwards and tumbling down, as he always did. Falling a few feet before his back met the ground. There was a surge of pain that he had never felt during that tumble before. Crying out as the sting went through his back and sent it into a fit of spasms.

He vaguely heard the sound of a  **SPLAT** next to him and only assumed it was the sound of the ink demon hitting the floor. But the pain going up his backside prevented him from seeing if the thing was still in one piece or now just a stain on the floor.

“Damn it! Damn it, Joey!”

Henry shouted. For once he allowed himself to do so. Throughout all the loops he had tried to remain calm, an inside panic having always been there but never so much so that he lost his cool. No doubt it was part of the script that his old boss had laid out for him. Wanting his  _ protagonist _ to be calm and level headed. And normally, Henry was. But now he was tired. He was in pain. He had been  **SO CLOSE.**

The door had been right there. Open and waiting. That was the closest he had ever gotten to leaving that dreadful place. And now it was gone. He hadn’t thought to be cautious of the floor breaking beneath him. It always did in the loops...but those were broken,  **_RIGHT?_ **

Why had it sent him crashing down again? Why? And that time was far worse than the ones before it. He didn’t land on his feet. He didn’t simply walk it off and grab the waiting axe in the room. Instead he lay sprawled across the floor as spasms raced across his back. He had to wonder if he’d finally broken something.

“Damn it…”

A hand came up to cover his eyes. Henry entertaining the thought of just laying there until Joey realized there was something wrong and started everything back over again. Anything to take away the pain in his back. Anything to possibly just put him back on his usual routine.

Such sad thoughts. Ones that he knew he shouldn’t be letting roam through his mind. Being controlled via the magic that brought about the loops was a nightmare. Sure, he couldn’t be hurt and he couldn’t die - not without being brought back. But it also meant having no free will. It meant being someone else’s plaything.

Henry’s hand fell away from his eyes, but the dim light in the room was still blotted out. A familiar grin hovering over him.

“I see you survived.” The animator uttered. His words were responded to be a nod from the demon. A few stray ink drops flying off the creature’s body and landing on Henry’s face. He was quick to wipe them away, though he ended up smearing the droplets across his cheeks rather than getting rid of them entirely. The demon seemed to find that amusing as it wriggled its body as it had before. Though a moment later it was pressing its head against Henry’s side, silently telling him to get up.

“I’m old. I have fallen and I can’t get up. I’m not like you,” He sighed, gently placing his hand against the creature’s head and giving it a slight nudge “I know you can understand what I’m saying. Don’t try to act like now you don’t.”

At that the demon hung its head, doing so for perhaps a second or two before it fell on its back. Laying side by side with Henry. The pair staring at the ceiling in complete silence. At least the thing didn’t persist further. Its slight pushing from before had caused a whole new set of spasms to rack Henry’s backside. But even with the pain, he knew he’d have to get up eventually. They couldn’t lay there forever.

_ ‘I’m not a toy for him to watch anymore. I can’t waste this opportunity. I can’t let him win.’ _

It took a few minutes for him to psych himself up. Henry every so often moving slightly as a means to test the waters. Each slight twitch caused new pain to arise, pain that he slowly but surely got  _ used _ to, more or less. The demon didn’t do anything but watch him. Waiting patiently for the elder to muster up the strength to move forward. It took time,  **LOTS** of time, more than Henry liked, but eventually he pushed himself up to a sitting position. Letting out an aggravated yelp as he did so. 

“Deep breaths, Henry. Deep breaths.”

The demon at his side sat up with him, having to wriggle around to even be able to do so. Grin still aimed in the animator’s direction. But the presence of the other was ignored as ringing filled Henry’s ears. He had to close his eyes to block both it and the pain out. He couldn’t imagine having to go through that sort of agony with each loop. He didn’t think he’d been able to remain sane if he had been faced with it. Perhaps Joey didn’t like to wait. Didn’t like wasting precious time in his script on waiting for Henry to recover. Better to just make his protagonist nearly  _ invisible _ when it came to falls and mild hits.

“One more minute. I promise, just one more minute.”

Henry opened his eyes and looked to the demon. Whether he was saying the words to it or himself, he wasn’t sure. Though the thing had been an enemy in the past, looking at it  **NOW** gave him some form of incentive. Boris had been such a thing when he traversed the studio before, especially the first time. Keeping that toon safe and out of Alice Angel’s clutches had been motivation to keep going despite all he had faced.

_ The  _ **_FIRST_ ** _ time. _

After a few runs, it just got old. Because he always knew how it would end.

But he didn’t know what was going to happen now. To him or the ink demon. The thing had made itself his companion. Waiting for him and urging him on in the few minutes they’d met up. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep the demon safe. He still wasn’t even sure if he wanted to bring the thing along. But they were  _ partners _ now. And the new resolve was to get them both out of there. And eventually give Joey a black eye for what he’d put  **BOTH** of them through.

With that  _ happy _ thought, Henry tried to rise. Pain coursing through his backside, pain that he tried to ignore. Gritting his teeth and forcing his knees to straighten. They tried to buckle beneath him, to send Henry crashing down, but the demon would not allow it. Surging forward, the thing put itself behind the animator. Using its head to keep Henry standing as it pushed against his back. It actually  **HURT** . Inky horns pressing against him and causing him to shudder. 

With a shout, Henry forced himself forward, stumbling a few steps before he caught himself on a wall. His knees were shaking and the ringing had returned to his ears. He almost thought he might pass out. But he couldn’t, he had to keep going. He was reminded of that simple fact when he felt an inky head press against his free hand.

“I’m fine. I’m fine, buddy.”  _ Buddy?  _ “I just need another minute. I know I’m being slow.”

He looked down at the waiting demon. The thing’s grin staring back at him. Eventually it reared back and went ahead. Henry called out to it as he saw it turn a corner. Leaving the old man to wonder if he’d killed his chance for an  _ alliance _ and annoyed the demon by taking too long to recover.

But that thought wasn’t entertained for long. A moment later, the demon rounded the corner again, though now it carried an axe. The weapon awkwardly held between the thing’s  _ chin _ and bow tie. The demon’s head cast downward as it tried to keep the axe snug against it. Only letting the weapon fall out of its grasp once it was right in front of Henry. Placing it directly at the animator’s feet.

“Is this your way of telling me to hurry up?” He allowed a soft chuckle to escape him yet again. He carefully reached down and grasped the hilt of the axe. How did the demon know the weapon was there? The creature never seemed to follow him through those halls in the loops. Did it…? No, Henry was just overthinking things. The demon had been living in the studio for  **YEARS** . Surely it had slithered down those halls some time in the past.

With the hilt of the axe in his hand, Henry placed the bladed end on the floor. A makeshift cane, an awkward one to hold at that. But it would have to do. He had no other options. And it did help to alleviate some of the pressure and pain from his back. Though it didn’t take it away completely. Henry wincing every few steps he took. Taking longer than usual to go down the hall and round the corner where the coffins and pentagram awaited him.

The demon followed at his side. Seeming to realize it couldn’t be held, what with Henry having to put most of his energy into clutching the hilt of the axe and remaining upright. So instead it glided next to him, leaving an inky trail behind it.

The pair soon came to the room where the coffins sat. Ones that possibly held bodies. Henry honestly was never sure if they did. He never had the courage to open them, nor did Joey ever let him do so. The only thing he did know was that hidden names were written on them. Names that he had to wonder if he’d put there on an old forgotten loop. Henry automatically reached for his seeing eye tool, but was left empty handed as his hand met air. Glancing down at his belt to where the device usually hung. Had he dropped it during the fall? Or had he lost it elsewhere? He couldn’t recall ever having lost the feeling of the weight of it at his side.

Henry had little time to question the device’s disappearance. In an instant he found himself back on the floor, though now on his knees rather than his back. The sound of screaming voices filling his head and excessive amounts of ink now looked to be leaking from the walls. Just like...just like before. In the loops. The ink. The screams. All of it, just like before.

He never got used to that. The invasive  _ visions _ that Joey forced into his head. Nails digging into the sides of his skull as he clutched his head in agony. The spasms in his back were ignored, the screeching overtaking him, just as it always did. He could vaguely feel the demon pressing up against his side. It was doubtful it could see what Henry was seeing. Or that it could even register just what the old man was going through.

Another loud scream filled his ears, and then Henry was out. Darkness completely overtook his vision. Everything went numb around him.

_ But the loops were broken. Weren’t they? _


End file.
